PARIS, DEC 12: The European Union on Sunday agreed to an ambitious plan of creating a rapid reaction force to tackle situations like Kosovo but experts suspect the viability of such a force considering the political differences between some of the member states and US reservations to it.In the summit meeting at Helsinki, the leaders of the 15-member EU approved plans to assemble a multinational force of up to 15 army brigades with nearly 60,000 troops in the field. The highly mobile force is expected to be ready by the year 2003.The EU leaders want this multi-national army to operate independently from the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The new force would have its own staff, warships and satellites to respond to emergencies like Kosovo without banking on the US war machine."This time we are really there; what so long seemed a mirage has become a reality," French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine said referring to the creation of an European force. Portugal, which takes overthe EU presidency in January, will be asked to draw up a more detailed report on the force.
